Seahawks will face No. 1 Missouri State-West Plains at noon Thursday

[LamarStatesports]

The Lamar State College-Port Arthur men's basketball team must rise to the challenge Thursday, when the Seahawks face No. 1 Missouri State University-West Plains at noon in the consolation bracket of the NJCAA Division I Tournament.

This is make-or-break time for the Seahawks. The loser of Thursday's game will be eliminated, while the winner moves on to play Friday in pursuit of seventh or eighth place in the tournament.

Both the Seahawks and the Grizzlies had first-round losses --  Lamar State fell to No. 10 Monroe College (NY), 70-52, while Missouri State was upset by No. 6 Coffeyville (KS) Community College, 77-66.

Lamar State never got its offense on track Tuesday. Leading scorers Keenen Coleman, Roman Vaughn and Vonn Jones, who came into the game averaging 15.6, 15.1 and 12.6 points, respectively, were ineffective.

Coleman went 4-of-16 from the field and added a pair of free throws for nine points. Vaughn, who was recovering from the flu, was 1-of-8, including several air balls, and spent most of the second half on the bench with two points.

Monroe defenders kept the ball out of Jones' hands. He put up just five shots and two free throws for seven points.

The Mustangs out-rebounded the Seahawks, 44-31, and got 25 points off LSC-PA's 24 turnovers.

Missouri State trailed the entire game against Coffeyville, which used its deeper bench to keep the Grizzlies at bay and break MSU's 17-game winning streak.

Lamar State head coach Matt Cross and MSU head coach Yancy Walker were frustrated with their team's performances. Both men hope their offense returns to regular season form. Cross hopes his team finds the spark they had when they won the Region XIV championship a week ago.

“Ever since we have got off the bus in Kansas, we had no legs. That, coupled with Roman and Ray (Lewis) being sick, made it tough on us last night,” Cross said. “The other side is the mental factor. Being our first time in the national spotlight, I don't think we handled the environment the way this team is capable of. Yet we were still right there and had our opportunities to take control of the game.”

A day of rest should help, Cross said.

“Tomorrow, we get a chance to bounce back and show why we are champions when we come up against the No. 1 team in the nation,” Cross said. “This will be another great opportunity our team, which already has proved it can overcome adversity and beat highly-ranked teams.”